History Podcasts and Golden Thread Podcasts are both listed here - the religion and Faith selectors will only pull content from The Golden Thread.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1697
Central Character: Pierre Bayle
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Pierre Bayle championed tolerance and intellectual humility in an age of religious violence, offering a model for living with deep disagreement without dehumanization.
Central Character: Pierre Bayle
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Pierre Bayle championed tolerance and intellectual humility in an age of religious violence, offering a model for living with deep disagreement without dehumanization.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1697
Central Character: Samuel Sewall
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A reflection on Samuel Sewall, and how public repentance reshaped moral responsibility.
Central Character: Samuel Sewall
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: A reflection on Samuel Sewall, and how public repentance reshaped moral responsibility.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1698
Central Character: Jeanne Guyon
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: French mystic Jeanne Guyon was imprisoned in the Bastille for teaching that the interior life belongs to every soul --- and sang.
Central Character: Jeanne Guyon
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: French mystic Jeanne Guyon was imprisoned in the Bastille for teaching that the interior life belongs to every soul --- and sang.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1705
Central Character: Kimpa Vita
Faith: Indigenous Spirituality
About this episode: Kimpa Vita, 21-year-old Kongolese prophet burned at the stake in 1706, asked a question the world is still answering.
Central Character: Kimpa Vita
Faith: Indigenous Spirituality
About this episode: Kimpa Vita, 21-year-old Kongolese prophet burned at the stake in 1706, asked a question the world is still answering.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1738
Central Character: Charles Wesley
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Charles Wesley wrote 6000 hymns that gave ordinary people a sacred voice --- and Harmonia wonders why we've stopped singing together.
Central Character: Charles Wesley
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Charles Wesley wrote 6000 hymns that gave ordinary people a sacred voice --- and Harmonia wonders why we've stopped singing together.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1744
Central Character: Emanuel Swedenborg
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Scientist, mystic, and forerunner --- Emanuel Swedenborg followed reason to the edge of what reason can reach, and kept going.
Central Character: Emanuel Swedenborg
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Scientist, mystic, and forerunner --- Emanuel Swedenborg followed reason to the edge of what reason can reach, and kept going.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1750
Central Character: Anthony Benezet
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: The story of Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet and the profound spiritual distinction between forgiveness as personal work and justice as collective architecture.
Central Character: Anthony Benezet
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: The story of Quaker abolitionist Anthony Benezet and the profound spiritual distinction between forgiveness as personal work and justice as collective architecture.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1750
Central Character: Benjamin Lay
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: The story of Benjamin Lay, the radical Quaker abolitionist who lived in a cave and refused to let good people look away from slavery.
Central Character: Benjamin Lay
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: The story of Benjamin Lay, the radical Quaker abolitionist who lived in a cave and refused to let good people look away from slavery.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1754
Central Character: John Woolman
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: John Woolman's gentle witness against slavery through everyday choices helped Quakers become the first American denomination to oppose it, offering a model for moral clarity that remains urgent today.
Central Character: John Woolman
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: John Woolman's gentle witness against slavery through everyday choices helped Quakers become the first American denomination to oppose it, offering a model for moral clarity that remains urgent today.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1773
Central Character: Mokujiki Shōnin
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: A wandering Japanese monk carves a thousand smiling Buddhas and walks away --- and changes everything about what sacred art can mean.
Central Character: Mokujiki Shōnin
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: A wandering Japanese monk carves a thousand smiling Buddhas and walks away --- and changes everything about what sacred art can mean.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1773
Central Character: Phillis Wheatley
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: How Phillis Wheatley's poetry created undeniable proof of human dignity, giving future generations the language to imagine justice.
Central Character: Phillis Wheatley
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: How Phillis Wheatley's poetry created undeniable proof of human dignity, giving future generations the language to imagine justice.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1774
Central Character: Ann Lee
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia recalls Ann Lee, the visionary leader who shaped one of the most radical spiritual communities in American history.
Central Character: Ann Lee
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia recalls Ann Lee, the visionary leader who shaped one of the most radical spiritual communities in American history.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1775
Central Character: Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: French mystic Louis Claude de Saint-Martin spent his life shedding every exterior spiritual system to arrive at one conviction: the faculty above reason belongs to every soul.
Central Character: Louis Claude de Saint-Martin
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: French mystic Louis Claude de Saint-Martin spent his life shedding every exterior spiritual system to arrive at one conviction: the faculty above reason belongs to every soul.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1776
Central Character: Tikhon of Zadonsk
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Tikhon of Zadonsk answered 18th-century Russian nihilism not with argument but with love --- and inspired Dostoevsky's greatest characters.
Central Character: Tikhon of Zadonsk
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Tikhon of Zadonsk answered 18th-century Russian nihilism not with argument but with love --- and inspired Dostoevsky's greatest characters.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1780
Central Character: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Faith: Philosopher
About this episode: A reflection on Lessing and the moment when humanity began learning to discover spiritual truth as responsibly as scientific truth.
Central Character: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Faith: Philosopher
About this episode: A reflection on Lessing and the moment when humanity began learning to discover spiritual truth as responsibly as scientific truth.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1790
Central Character: Judith Sargent Murray
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia explores Judith Sargent Murray, whose radical belief in the equality of every soul helped build the world we live in today.
Central Character: Judith Sargent Murray
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Harmonia explores Judith Sargent Murray, whose radical belief in the equality of every soul helped build the world we live in today.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1800
Central Character: Ryōkan Taigu
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Ryōkan Taigu was an Edo-period Zen monk whose life of radical simplicity and chosen joy continues to illuminate what it means to be fully, deliberately alive.
Central Character: Ryōkan Taigu
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Ryōkan Taigu was an Edo-period Zen monk whose life of radical simplicity and chosen joy continues to illuminate what it means to be fully, deliberately alive.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1807
Central Character: William Wilberforce
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: How William Wilberforce's interior transformation on a carriage ride gave him the moral grounding to abolish the British slave trade.
Central Character: William Wilberforce
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: How William Wilberforce's interior transformation on a carriage ride gave him the moral grounding to abolish the British slave trade.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1809
Central Character: Elizabeth Ann Seton
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: The story of Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity, and the enduring power of service as a spiritual calling.
Central Character: Elizabeth Ann Seton
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: The story of Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity, and the enduring power of service as a spiritual calling.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1810
Central Character: Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í spent his life preparing the ground for a new age he could sense but never see --- his story is the pre-dawn of the morning we inhabit.
Central Character: Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í
Faith: Islam
About this episode: Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í spent his life preparing the ground for a new age he could sense but never see --- his story is the pre-dawn of the morning we inhabit.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1817
Central Character: Elizabeth Fry
Faith: 19th century awakening
About this episode: How Elizabeth Fry transformed the brutal women’s ward of Newgate Prison through structure, dignity, and disciplined compassion—and reshaped society’s conscience.
Central Character: Elizabeth Fry
Faith: 19th century awakening
About this episode: How Elizabeth Fry transformed the brutal women’s ward of Newgate Prison through structure, dignity, and disciplined compassion—and reshaped society’s conscience.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1818
Central Character: Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Tibetan yogi Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol saw through the walls between sacred traditions two centuries before the world was ready to listen.
Central Character: Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol
Faith: Buddhism
About this episode: Tibetan yogi Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol saw through the walls between sacred traditions two centuries before the world was ready to listen.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1823
Central Character: Betsey Stockton
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Betsey Stockton taught herself into freedom, then spent forty years teaching others --- on three continents, in three languages, under one conviction.
Central Character: Betsey Stockton
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Betsey Stockton taught herself into freedom, then spent forty years teaching others --- on three continents, in three languages, under one conviction.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1829
Central Character: Mary Elizabeth Lange
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Mary Elizabeth Lange fled revolution as a child and built the first Black women's religious congregation in American history from a school in her own home.
Central Character: Mary Elizabeth Lange
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Mary Elizabeth Lange fled revolution as a child and built the first Black women's religious congregation in American history from a school in her own home.
Podcast: The Golden ThreadCirca: 1836
Central Character: Jarena Lee
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Jarena Lee was born free in a land built on slavery. Denied a pulpit, denied authority, and denied permission, she preached anyway
Central Character: Jarena Lee
Faith: Christianity
About this episode: Jarena Lee was born free in a land built on slavery. Denied a pulpit, denied authority, and denied permission, she preached anyway